The Believer’s Walk as Revealed in the Song of Solomon – Chapter 2

• This book was written by Solomon to recount his love relationship and marriage to a lovely young Shulamite maiden. It is also a portrait of God’s relationship with Israel. The Song of Solomon is cherished as a guide and an inspiration for the Bride of Christ, the Church, and her relationship with the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and seeks to lead the believer toward a closer and more OBEDIENT walk with the Lord. The Song of Solomon became one of the five scrolls of the third part of the Hebrew Bible, each of which was read publicly at one of the annual Jewish Feasts. This one was assigned to be read at the PASSOVER. Passover also marks the beginning of the journey to the Promised Land.

The DISCIPLINE of the Lord Is Not Forced OBEDIENCE

Climbing the Mountain of Faith

¹I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys.

• The bridegroom calls Himself “The Rose Of Sharon, the Lily of the Valleys”. The rose is considered to be the zenith among all flowers. The lily has always been a symbol of purity. In the lowlands of humanity where the swamps of human degradation abound, there is a spotless lily, Christ the Lord.

²As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

• The bride is called “The Lily among Thorns”. And so the church should be, so very different from the world and so pure that she resembles a lily among thorns.

³As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

• The bride compares her beloved to “The Apple Tree among the Trees of the Forest”. The apple tree “viewed” as the king of fruits is here described as sweet, fragrant and suitable for shade.

• The fruit was used figuratively to show how precious we are to God. The bride described “THE TASTE OF HIS FRUIT AS SWEET”.

⁴He brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love.

• The king takes his maiden “To the Banqueting Table”. At a banqueting table no ordinary or common foods are served. A banquet is a feast of the choicest foods.

• When we enter into close fellowship with the Lord we will no longer be restricted to a common prayer and study life, but we will find delicacies in THE WORD served in grand abundance (Prov.15:15).

⁶His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me.

• The bride describes the bridegroom’s all encompassing care and protection as “His Left Hand Is Under My Head, And His Right Hand Doth Embrace Me”, Deu.33:27.

⁷I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

• The maiden charges the daughters of Jerusalem “That Ye Stir Not Up, Nor Awake My Love, Till He Please”. Solomon’s maiden was insisting that the other women not disturb this precious time of intimacy. We too, must insist that the cares of this world not disturb and destroy our time alone with the Lord.

v.8 begins a transition in our story. Of course there is more to Christianity than just building a love relationship with the Lord. However, our relationship must be established FIRST in order to hear His call to go further. From henceforth, the bride is called out of her protective place to follow Him and to serve Him in the power of the resurrection.

⁸The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

• The bride hears “The Voice of Her Beloved! Leaping upon the Mountains, Skipping Upon the Hills” portrays Christ the bridegroom coming in majesty and power.

⁹My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. ¹⁰My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. ¹¹For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; ¹²The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; ¹³The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

• Where did the bridegroom stand? “Behind Our Wall”. What did he call to her? “Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One, And Come Away”.

What time of year did he tell her it was? “Springtime”. Springtime has always been symbolic of the resurrection. The Lord calls to His people to rise up and come away from the self-life and enter into the springtime of His resurrection power.

¹⁴O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

• The bridegroom’s request of the maiden “Let Me See Thou Countenance, Let Me Hear Thy Voice”. Solomon speaks of a day when he went to call his Shulamite bride to come to the palace. For some reason, although she heard his voice, she did not respond. Some Christians assume that if they feed in the Lord’s green pastures (read their Bibles and go to church) and dine at His banqueting table (read books, listen to tapes and watch Christian television), then the will of God has been done in their life, Ecc.12:12.

• The bride speaks of a wall between them v9 and the bridegroom is twice forced to call for her response, vv.10, 13. We can become like Peter on the mount of transfiguration who wanted to build a tabernacle and stay in the presence of God, while human need was crying out at the bottom of the mountain, Luke 9:38. Many Christians are still seated at the banqueting table delighting in the banner of Hid love when there is much work to be done for the Lord, and the call has come to go to work in the field, Mt.9:37-38.

¹⁵Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

• While remaining in her place of comfort the maiden discovered “Her Vines Have Tender Grapes and the Little Foxes were spoiling them”.

• The little foxes hide under the leaves of the vine and when all is quiet they eat the tender fruit and slip away unnoticed. The maiden’s observance recorded here is direct instruction for the believer. It is the little things that spoil our vine and keep us from responding to the Lord’s greater call. These little areas may hide from everyone’s eyes, except the Bridegroom’s.

• Foxes are very fond of tender young grapes. If they are permitted to remain in the vineyard, they will eat away at the tender fruit of our relationship with Jesus, and our spiritual growth will be hindered, Gal.5:9; I Cor.5:7.

¹⁶My beloved is mine and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

• Here the bride reveals that she is confident in her position and that she knows just where to find the bridegroom. This points to an overconfident attitude. An attitude that often yields to a common deception; that we can respond when WE choose and not as HE chooses.

¹⁷Until the day break and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

• She asks her beloved to “Flee Away until the Day Break”. The maiden didn’t respond to Solomon but thought that she could call to him later. Poor foolish bride! And poor foolish Christian if we think we can determine the time of our response.

• The Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man (Ps.103:9). You’re have heard it said, “It’s never too late to serve God.” that’s partly true. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” but THE OPPORTUNITIES are not (Ro.11:29).

http://youtu.be/CvIxwc90BEI

 

(To be continued…)

MAN’S FIRST DIMENTION – THE SPIRIT

Kenneth E. Hagin

Man is a spirit who possesses a soul and lives in a body. Man’s spirit is that part of him that knows God. He is in the same class with God because God is a Spirit and God made man to fellowship with him. God made man for His own pleasure. Man is not an animal. In order to fellowship with God, man must be in the same category with God. Therefore, just as God is a Spirit, so man is a spirit.

We can’t fellowship with animals because they are in a different kingdom , a different class than we are. But we can fellowship with one another, and we can fellowship with God because we are the same type of being.

Jesus told the woman at the well in Samaria,

• “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth,” John 4:24. We cannot know God or touch Him physically. He is not a man. He is a Spirit. We cannot communicate with Him mentally, for He is not a mind. He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our spirit, and it is through our spirit that we come to know God.

So we know that God is a Spirit. And yet God, who is a Spirit, took upon Himself a man’s body. Jesus was God manifested in the flesh.

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…,” John 1:1-3, 14.

When God took upon Himself human form, He was no less God than when He didn’t have a body. Man, at physical death, leaves his body. Yet he is no less man than when he had a body. We see this in Christ’s account of Lazarus and the rich man at death,

• Luke 16:19-31, There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

In Paul’s epistle to the church at Thessalonica we see a glimpse of man’s three-fold nature.

• “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” I Thessalonians 5:23.

Another version translates this verse, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This three-fold man is to be preserved “entire,” without blame at the coming of the Lord. That will be a great day, for when the Lord comes, this whole man – spirit, soul and body – salvation, new birth,  will be preserved “entire.”

We have a new spirit now, for our spirits are born of God. But we will have a new body “at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” We have a new life now, but we will have a new body then.

• The Bible talks about salvation in the past, present and future tense. When it talks about salvation in the past tense, its connected to the “new birth.” When it speaks of salvation in the present tense, its connected to the “renewed mind” Romans 12:2. When it speaks of salvation in the future tense, its connected to the redemption of our bodies.

More than one Old Testament prophet prophesied concerning Israel that God would establish a new covenant with the house of Israel. This new covenant is the New Testament as we know it. Through the prophet Ezekiel God said,

• “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and you shall keep My judgments, and do them” Ezekiel 36:26-27.

Ezekiel was prophesying the new birth. When a man is born again, the spirit (which is the real man) is born again and the old man is gone. The old hard, stony heart is gone. He is a new creature, as Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17,

• “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The words “heart” and “spirit” are used interchangeably in the scriptures. Your heart is your spirit. When the Word of God speaks about the heart of man, it is speaking of the spirit of man.

Peter talked about the “hidden man of the heart.” He was telling us not merely to be concerned with outward adorning,

• “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price,”   I Peter 3:4. This is the real man. It is not the outward man, the man of flesh and bones; it is not the body. It is the inward man.

Paul referred to the “hidden man of the heart” – man’s spirit – as the inward man.

• “…Though our outward man perish (another version says ‘is decaying’), yet the inward man is renewed day by day,” II Corinthians 4:16. The outward man, or the body, is growing older and “is decaying,” just as the house you live in is decaying and needs constant upkeep and repairs. But the real you is not getting older, for Paul said, “…yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

You will never be any older than what you are right now. You are no older now than you were a few years ago. You know more now than you did then, but you are not any older. Your hair may become grayer and you may get a few more wrinkles, but the real you will never become old. For the inward man is renewed day by day.

Then Paul went on to say,

• “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal,” II Corinthians 4:17-18. You may be going through some kind of trial which is making your life miserable from the natural standpoint. But remember, it is just for a moment. For we look forward to something far more wonderful which will last, not for a moment, but for eternity.

“While we look not at the things which are see, but at the things which are not seen…” The outward man is seen, but the inward man is that hidden, unseen man. Too many people are defeated in life because they are looking at the wrong things. All they ever see is physical. Smith Wigglesworth once said “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved only by what I believe.” The only way we can look at the unseen is by faith.

The first verse of the next chapter is a continuation of what Paul was saying here. When Paul wrote this epistle it was all one long letter to the church at Corinth. Man has divided it into chapters for easier reference. Talking about things that are not seen and about the inward man, Paul said,

• “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” II Corinthians 5:1.

The “earthly house” that Paul talks about here is, of course our physical body. He says that if our body is “dissolved…” if it dies and is placed in a grave, decays and goes back to dust, that is not the end. “…We have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…” He is referring to the spirit of man, the inward man, that is eternal.

Paul continues on this subject further in this same chapter.

• “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord,” II Corinthians 5:6-8. In v.6 Paul said, “we are always confident;” then again in v.8 he said, “we are confident…” Paul knew what he was talking about. He was confident that while “we (the inward man) are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” But when we (the inward man, the real man) are “absent from the body,” we are “present with the Lord.”

Living in the natural, physical world as we do, it is difficult to realize that the spirit world is far more real than this natural world. We think of people as existing only in their physical bodies, and when they are dead as no longer existing. However, the scriptures tell us that the real man is the inward man, the hidden man of the heart, that he is an eternal being. He will live on long after his “earthly house” has returned to dust.

Death in the scriptures does not mean the cessation of life as we understand it. It means separation from God.